Perhaps a half-cocked question about whether Eric Hosmer is now back
The Kansas City Star
Maybe this is obvious, and if so then maybe you’re getting what you pay for, but if Eric Hosmer’s first three-hit game since September gets him out of his bizarre and prolonged funk then an 8-3 loss at Yankee Stadium is worth every bit of the frustration.
It says plenty about how bad it’s been for Hosmer that his batting average jumped 14 points … and is now at .191.
There’s also the point to be made that none of Hosmer’s three hits — including a bloop RBI double down the left field line — were hit hard.
But, hell, that’s part of what we’re talking about here. Hosmer’s follow-up season has so far been defined by at-bats and an approach that aren’t nearly as good as last year’s rookie breakout but also not nearly as bad as this season’s anemic numbers^.
^ He is on pace for about 19 homers and 80 RBIs, nearly identical to last year’s totals, but he spent the first five weeks or so of 2011 making a mockery of Pacific Coast League pitching. Hosmer’s home run rate is pretty close to last year, and his walks are still up and his strikeouts still down, but his line drives have dropped significantly and it is impossible to watch him so far this season and think he’s completely comfortable. Way too many groundouts to the right side of the infield.
Anyway, the point isn’t that two infield hits and a blooper over the third baseman signify that Hosmer has figured something out in his swing or approach or anything else.
The point is that so much of what we’ve heard — and written here — has been about Hosmer’s demonstrably rotten luck.
Well, he got a bit lucky last night. Perhaps it’s overly optimistic to wonder if that can turn him, but it’s at least something to keep an eye on.
Greg A
12 months agoRotten luck is complete bullcrack. Hosmer is clearly pressing and his facial expressions when he makes ‘yet another out’ are starting to give clues as to where his head is at. His is defense hasn’t won a game yet moving him around the lineup is the Ned Yost way of looking busy.
Let’s be honest. He’s one of the advertised names for the team in a year when the All-Star circus is coming to town. Sending him down would will only put egg on the face of an organization who has far too much pride for a group used to a decade plus of losing.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 4 weeks agoThings that stood out last I looked at Hosmer’s stats were that LD% was down, FB% down, and GB% way up. For whatever reason he is hitting the tops of balls rather than squaring them. His bloop double was at least a positive in that he got the ball in the air.
“Sending him down would will only put egg on the face”
Lots of good players get sent down and it has been discussed for Hosmer, first to give him a chance to get away and clear his head and straighten up his mechanics, second as sending the message that even the Son of God has to actually perform, and third to give Clint Robinson a chance to earn a major league paycheck for a few months and allow him to show what he’s got, either for his Royals’ future or for trade value. GMDM has so far resisted the idea for reasons that have been widely discussed.